2024-12-24

data lifeguard diagnostics

Utilities for Erasing A Western Digital Hard Drive

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM02 mins

Utilities for Erasing A Western Digital Hard DriveWestern Digital provides softwares that can erase(Low Level Format) all the data on a hard drive. Writing zeros to a hard drive is recommended any time an operating system is to be reinstalled on a boot drive or whenever a blank drive is desired.

1. Erasing WD Internal Hard Drives and Solid State Drives

Internal hard drives and Solid State drives can be erased by these softwares bellow. All these methods require access to your PC (To low level format your drive on a Mac you will need to contact Apple for assistance).

Softwares for Erasing your WD hard drive:

2. Erasing WD External Hard Drives

Western Digital external hard drives only support writing zeros to the drive using the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics utility. In addition, if your drive includes the WD SmartWare software, you have a second option which does not write zeros to the drive, but does fully erase the drive.

Softwares for Erasing your WD hard drive:

Important: If your drive includes a Western Digital Virtual CD-Rom (VCD) drive, this partition will not be removed by performing a low-level format on the hard drive.

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Test a WD hard drive using a Data Lifeguard Diagnostics CD/Floppy disk

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM05 mins

Data Lifeguard Diagnostics CD or Floppy disk How do I create a Data Lifeguard Diagnostic disk (Floppy or CD)?

You will need a blank, formatted floppy disk or a blank CD to create the diagnostic disk. To create a diagnostic disk, you can follow one of the procedures below:

OPTION 1: Creating a diagnostic CD.

  1. Download the Diag504fCD.zip or Diag504fCD.iso file DLG Diagnostics for DOS (CD) download.
  2. Extract the Diag504cCD.zip file to your desktop with a file extraction utility. (Alternately, you have the option to download the ISO version of the file which does not require extraction with a zip utility).
  3. You must use a CD burning program (such as Nero Burning Rom or EZ-CD Creator) to burn a CD from the .ISO image.
  4. You can now boot the computer to the diagnostics CD. Make sure your boot order in your BIOS is set to boot to the CD-ROM drive first.

OPTION 2: Creating a diagnostic floppy disk.

  1. Download the DlgDiagv504f.zip file or DlgDiagv504f.exe file DLG Diagnostics for DOS (Floppy) download. Save this file to your desktop.
  2. Extract and run the DlgDiagv504f.exe file. (Alternately you have the option to download the exe version of the file which does not require extraction with a zip utility).
  3. You will see a Diskette Creator icon on your desktop.
  4. Insert an empty formatted floppy diskette into the floppy diskette drive.
  5. Double-click on the Diskette Creator icon, follow the prompts and create your diagnostic diskette.
  6. You can now boot to this diskette. Make sure that your boot order in your Bios is set to boot from the floppy drive first.

How do I test a WD Serial ATA or EIDE hard drive for errors using a Data Lifeguard Diagnostics CD or Floppy disk?

To test a Western Digital Serial ATA or EIDE hard drive for errors using the diagnostic disk, you can follow these steps:

  1. Boot your computer and set your system BIOS to boot to a CD or Floppy disk first. If you do not know how to enter or adjust your system BIOS please refer to your computer/motherboard user manual or contact the manufacturer.
  2. Save the new BIOS setting (F10) and insert the Data LifeGuard diagnostic disk into your disk drive.
  3. You will be brought to the License Agreement screen, read the agreement and hit the Esc button.
  4. Press the Y key to accept the license agreement.
  5. You will be at the main menu for the Diagnostic Utility. Use the down arrow button to highlight Extended Test and press the Enter key.
  6. The software will tell you that a Quick Test will be run first. Press R to continue.
  7. After the Quick Test is run you should receive a four-digit error code that will indicate the status of your drive.
  8. If you receive an error code of 0000, this indicates that the hard drive does not contain any defects or errors and is working properly.
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